In Bloom At The 4Rs

There have been a few warm days which have brought out the blooms. 

The hyacinths are in full bloom. 

And the different color daffodils are now blooming. 

These delicate white ones 

are hanging out in the rock garden. 

The forsythias are also in full bloom.

I really cut back on the snow drops. I dug up bunches and gave them away last year.  The blooms are just not as showy as I would like. And they really multiply and spread.

Sadie said these look like grape flowers. I said she was close, they were grape hyacinths. She said she would just call them grape flowers.  

I am trying out the old fence rails here. I will see how I like it as the flowering season continues. 

The Yoshino Cherry trees are not quite in full bloom. But since high winds are in the forecast I thought I would go ahead and take pictures now. 

The fruit trees are blooming.  This is a peach 

And these are pears  But we will be having some below freezing temperatures soon too.  Fruit can sometimes be iffy around here. 

The one remaining trunk of the hawthorn is blooming. Maybe I will get it cut down this year.

And Sadie and Allie came over this evening. This was the stillest they were.  There was so much running everywhere to see what new blooms I had. 
 

Three Random Things And A Kat

I have 3 maybe 4 random things that I combined into one. 

A brake drum,

A cedar stump,

And a piece of glass from an old table. I ended up not using that but instead used the glass from an old television from the 40’s. Don’t ask why I even had that. 

After cleaning up the stump and sealing it with linseed oil, I attached it to the brake drum. 

I tried the table glass first, but I thought something clear would work better than the textured glass. 

I like being able to see the stump through the glass. 

I love the view to the outside but I think Kit Kat likes the view to the inside. 

 

Serendipity

Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery.

I have always told Joe that if I ever said I wanted to join a gym, just point me up the hill in front of the house.  Well, for some reason he has been talking about joining a  gym.  I have just ignored this crazy talk.  Anyway, earlier this week after dinner I announced that I was going to walk up the hill.  Joe decided to come with me.  But instead of just walking up he had us go down the other side and then back up which is even  steeper.  On the way back down towards the house I noticed a goat off by itself. 

On closer inspection, its head was stuck in the fence. 

 I hope the goat appreciates our fortunate unplanned discovery. 

The First Four

Spring calving season started yesterday.  We have had four calves in the last 24 hours. 

Things are off to a good start.  Two of the calves are from first calf heifers.  We have the heifers right below the house where they are easier to check on. 

They were both bulls.  Joe banded them 

And ear tagged them. 

Then it was back to mom.  

Four down 140ish more to go. 
 

Crying Wolf

We have a neighbor that calls all the time about different things he sees happening on our farm.  A couple of months ago he left a message that someone walking down the road went through our gate and it looked like it could have been a woman.  It was me wearing leggings and a bright pink fuzzy coat.  I hope I looked like a woman.  Today's call was that we might have a goat out.  He could see something white in a field of black cows.  I said it was unlikely that just one goat would have gotten out but I would check.  

I decided to walk instead of driving.  When I got close enough I could see there was something white but couldn't quite tell what it was.  Once again, unlikely a goat laying there amongst a group of cows. 

So I climbed the fence onto a different neighbor where the white object was and got close enough to finally see it was a spotted calf, not a goat.  Maybe I need to get the neighbor some stronger binoculars.  

Anyway, I got all my steps in.  
 

Getting Ready

I probably got a little too excited earlier this week when the weather was so nice. 

I decided to start working on the garden.  Instead of turning over the entire thing I just did the rows.  I had tilled the whole thing when I cleared it off last fall so the weeds aren’t too bad. 

The I made a couple of this to the barn for two buggies full of dried manure. 

Joe helped me spread it on the rows that I had forked over.  I also added the leaf mold I had piled up from the fall. 

I think it looks good.  Now, I will just have to till the rows before planting time to get it all mixed.  That may still be awhile, we had snow this morning.  
 

Two Ride Day

We have had beautiful weather for the last couple of days.  I decided to take my second ride on Otoelene this morning while Joe was still around. 

Things went very well.  

I ended up increasing my ride time to 15 minutes. I still worry about quick or sudden movements.  My back still notices those things.  Then I was surprised by Sadie coming over.  Mike was working on our hot water heater and brought Sadie with him.  Apparently, she threw up on the way to school so they kept her home.  She was feeling fine by the time they got to my house.  

After lunch, Unicorn Academy, craft time and Barbies I asked if she wanted to brush a real horse.  She had been getting Nibbles, the Barbie horse ready for a show.  Yes! Was the answer that I got.  So Otoelene made another trip to the barn.  

There was a considerable amount of brushing this time.  We even combed her mane and I was able to hold up the front feet for Sdie to clean them. 

She also wanted to stand on the bucket so she could brush even higher. 

Then it was ride time. Sadie remembered everything.  She walked and trotted on the lunge line, practiced turning, stopping and learned how to back.  She did a great job managing the reins too. 

 And for being such a good horse, Otoelene got a handful of grain. 

Out With The Old

The cedar rail fence in my flower border has worn out. It is 25 years old, the first landscape feature we put up after we built the house. 

Two of the posts had broken off and the rails keep falling down.  

So I have decided to take it out and replace it.  

I am trying to get it done before too many flowers come up.  

You can see how much the part of the post that was in the ground had rotted.  

I am sort of getting use to it without the fence.  But I think it adds structure and winter interest to the yard and border.   Joe wants to replace.  Mike likes it how it is.  

What do you think?  In with the new? 
 

Slumber Party

Sadie and Allie came over Saturday evening to spend the night.  I thought it would be a nice time to have a slumber party with their new unicorn sleep matts.  The only problem was that there was too much party and too little slumbering.  After multiple rearrangements of blanket, pillows, stuffies, rooms and room mates, they finally went to sleep on the bed in Virginia's old room while I stayed in Emily's old room.  It was after 1 am before they were asleep.  Granted, the wind was blowing at 50 mph and it sounded like parts of the house could come off.  But then they were up at 6:30! I let Joe entertain them for an hour while I rested in my own bed.  Then it was time for Mimi fun.  

I had planned a string art craft that I had seen on Pinterest.   Sadie was excited to work on it.  Allie, not so much.  

Sadie worked and concentrated on hers while Allie wanted to go downstairs and play with balloons. 

I think it turned out spectacular.  Another Pinterest win. 

Anticipation of the balloon returning.  

Consequence of the balloon hitting a spiky plant. 

Of course we had to have a tea party.  Since I wouldn't let Allie use the fancy dishes yet, we used a table cloth and bunny figurines as a centerpiece to fancy things up.  

Kit Kat joined us for our flower picking journey.  

Allie was still not sure she wanted to be too close to him.  

There was some tricycle riding before going back inside for flower arranging.  

After playing dress up we went back out to check on Draper.  

Sadie is still in love with the horses.  

And even though they are princesses, 

they are not afraid to put on their boots and go to work.  

Not the most practical barn attire but it is certainly pretty.